Dear Family and Friends,
Right now we are driving home from Noto, a Sicilian city known for its Baroque architecture. It was well worth the hour long trip and Sebastiano's crazy Italian driving to see some more beautiful buildings, an amazing Duomo, and eat a great arancino and probably the best granita(almond and pistacchio flavor) I have had yet. I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing the rich history and culture (i.e. old buildings) that I just love, especially here in Sicily.
As you maybe can tell, I love Italy! Especially Ragusa! That's one thing I realized this week is how much I have put into this city and how I have only received more in return. Anziano Mars' quote has been "Everything's better in Italy!" and I can only agree. My love for Italy only continues to grow every single day I giro these as a missionary. Of course, our other motto is "Benvenuti ad Italia" (Welcome to Italy) which we say whenever we witness something crazy or something unexpected happens (which is usually a daily occurence since we are after all in Italy). For example on saturday, we witnessed a lady crash her car in a parking lot by slowly running into the only curb which easily could have been avoided.
So in general, we struggled to accomplish our purpose as missionaries but still tried our best with cicumstances including crazy heat, nobody really willing to listen to our message, and lack of appointments (which honestly is very normal except for maybe this crazy heat). Now you might be wondering, "How can you love a place that seems so hard?". There's a lot behind that question that I will try to sum up but really it comes down to this fact. Christ loved all of us so much more, and I think we are also easily more difficult to handle.
My love begins with the food. This week nothing felt better than to return to the apartment around 1 o'clock, boil a pot of water, cook sauce, and eat a great plate of pasta. Anziano Mars and I are very Italian and basically have only eaten pasta for our pranzos for about forever. It is a nice feeling to have worked hard enough and earned what you are about to eat. Of course, it's not always that good; I am still learning. But it's just sooo good when it is done right! And not just pasta, all food is good here! We bought a 13 kg watermelon just because we could and it is so good!
The city and architecture are also amazing! The feeling of walking up and down narrow winding streets not made for automobiles is exilirating. Sure it is hot and your shirt is usually soaked with sweat, but then you look at an old Duomo and you remember, you're in Italy! I would even say it is more the landscape. The rolling hills surrounding Ragusa are beautiful! When I see them, I always try to reach out as if to touch them because I don't want to forget them.
But in the end, my love for Italy is my love for these people and their culture. Who made the food, the buildings, the language, the culture? These people, whether it is members, investigators, or the random people we meet, are Italy for me! We had a lesson with Emanuele and brought Carmelo Guastella as a member/Sicilian translator in case. Turns out Emanuele read 90 pages in the Book of Mormon but was having difficulty understanding it all. Carmelo successfully yelled his testimony in Emanuele's ear (because he can't hear well), and we tried to actually explain everything, but Emanuele proceeded to tell us so many life stories again. He loves to talk so much! If we didn't have Carmelo there to yell and interrupt Emanuele, we might not have made it home on time. Italian conversation culture is fascinating.
The bishop's family had us over for pranzo and it was absolutely amazing and fun! But at the end of the meal, they bluntly encouraged us that we should start bringing desserts to meal appointments so more people would invite us over, and then suggested we trying making cheescake. Well I've taken their idea and hopefully we can apply it haha.
Other highlights are Fratello Lo Monaco's dedication to holding correlation despite his desperate need to take a nap, Giuseppe saying prayer for the first time, Sebastiano opening up and recommiting himself to baptism, and helping with an Eagle Scout Project. We are helping clean up this small park with lots of overgrowth so it's actually really cool.
I also got to play my violin in church with Anziano Mars. We just improvised A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief because Anziano Mars is more used to the organ. It was beautiful and I loved playing again. Someone asked me where I got my violin which of course brought up the story of Siracusa. My love for these people honestly is indescribable and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to meet new people and share my love for them and this gospel. I guess that's just the miracle of the pure love of God and Jesus Christ.
Vi voglio bene!
Anziano Price
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